TAI CHI # 8

Last night we had beginners in the class. It takes a beginner to highlight one's position on the learning curve.  As they moved through the forms, with this heel up, and that arm down, I found myself flowing through at least 80% the movements looking a little like I knew what I was doing.  Voila!


So I raise my glass to  beginners everywhere for the insights they offer and I raise my glass to   experts everywhere who willing to share their knowledge with others.  And finally,  I salute all of us at various stages between those two vantage points, for participating, engaging and just plain "giving it a go".  For being fearless about looking awkward,  for showing up  and improving each week,  be it ever so slowly.

That after all, is what life is all about....... No?

AUTUMN

I adore Autumn's palate. It's colors so rich and vibrant. Mother Nature's journey of sprouting, blooming, harvesting, and going to seed continues, as does mine.

THE FALL DIET

For many. many years Fall has been my new beginning. Odd perhaps, but when my son returned to school his mum returned to the newest diet offered that month. Of course my  resolve withered pretty fast, and Halloween  always was a break-down night, that is if I made it that far.
Times have changed, as times will do, now in my sixties I find my blood tests are not the healthy ones I had all of my life. I was shocked. Moi? pre-diabetic, LDL elevating as I write and joint pain......no one told me about joint pain and the way it wears one down. Where are my golden years as I travel through this decade?  And the bad news is there is no good news on the horizon.
But, I am still  Pollyanna at heart, so I dragged my ample butt to Weight Watchers on Saturday and here I go again......
Now let's see if I can hang in there this trip and stay the course.  I am not betting on it...but I am praying on it......

TAI CHI # 7

Last night was a wild night. Stormy, wet and windy It was a mad dash from the parking lot to the exercise room and I was soaking wet by the time I got to my destination. The instructor arrived a few minutes after me in an even squishier condition. The rainstorm had drenched her from head to toe.

As the class began, with the four people who showed up, something was out of sync.  Me of course, but that is normal I always manage to move half a beat slower than the class. But this was more than that. The warm up completed we went into the forms. It then became apparent the teacher was "off balance". She explained she had come from taking a class, to teaching a class.  Apparently, the juxtaposition of her role from student to teacher had not quite blended this evening.  Now this is a lady who has been a Tai Chi practitioner since the 1980's.


This wet hen found great comfort in that last night. My teacher, is still a student of another guru. And 7 weeks into this new study there is a chance I am not such a slow learner after all.  This slow, relaxed, stress free exercise,  touted so much these days for its accessibility and ease, is in fact a disciplined, ancient, martial art, that cannot be learned overnight, or in 7 weeks.  So the journey continues and the wonder of it all remains...... 


And lo and behold,  underneath my self criticism sits the scratchy thorn of my personal motto: "Dear God I want patience and I want it right now!"   An interesting awareness in my journey towards peace. Funny how it always surfaces in it's own inimitable prickly way.   But that is why I am here after all.....

SOUP WEATHER.

The temps are dropping and soup is calling my name. To that avail I Googled Thai soup recipes and found a wonderful cooking blog.  I don't think I have admitted here that I am a recipe-aholic. I take cookbooks to bed at night as lovingly as some take romance novels. 

Anywho, I digress, as I am prone to do. I found this site to be most worthy of a click, and then at least a weekly visit.

http://www.elanaspantry.com/

THANK YOU - CIRCA 1908

 As I stated in my profile, I am a magpie at heart. A collector of all things shiny, and other objects that catch my eye. The following thank you note is from a 1908 scrapbook I found in my travels.   It harks back to a different time, and is beautifully written.


"My dear Mr. and Mrs. Allen


        I hope it will make you happy to know that you have made two other people very happy indeed!!! 


        Now that we are settled in the new little house I can tell you what I could easily have prophesied before: that the lovely silver vase which you sent as a wedding gift is most wonderfully becoming to our guest room dressing table.  It is a dainty invitation to every blossom which crosses our threshold!


       Thank you many times for your share in this home and for the friendship of which it is so beautiful an expression."

                                             

Gratefully yours,


                                 Elizabeth French Babbott
                                 102 Pierreport St.
                                  Brooklyn


                                 

WHISPERS

My melancholy is whispering to me this day................

TAI CHI # 6

Something amazing is happening, six weeks in and though I still don't like the reflection I see in the mirror, she is definitely a different woman than she was six weeks ago. Graceful, no, but less awkward, yes, yes and yes.
Every week is an adventure at the Center. 

This week as I walked in a lady said to me "You are an Elvis fan, yes?"  I replied; "No, I am a Beatles fan." "Oh", she exclaimed, as I continued walking into the building to sign in. Then lo and behold, ten feet in front of me stood Elvis.  He looked about 35 years younger, but flashy as ever, with a colorful paisley shirt, a wide sparkling gold belt, sunglasses, tight spandex pants, perfectly coiffed black hair and tanned to the hilt.

Now I knew he was not there for Tai Chi.  Nope, the room outside of the exercise room was full of patrons anxiously anticipating the entrance of Elvis.  As I waited outside of the exercise room for the Zumba class to finish Elvis appeared on stage to the music from the movie "Space Odyssey".  A musical introduction I am sure he carefully chose. It seemed rather grandiose to me. But, who am I too judge Elvis? The crowd went wild.......


So, Tai Chi last night was performed to the beat of Elvis rather than to the normal meditative Chinese music.We are moving more cohesively, relatively speaking, considering it is only our sixth lesson.  However, how could one not feel the movement flow with Elvis, right next door, alternating from rocking it out with "Blue Suede Shoes",  to crooning  "Are you Lonesome Tonight?"     A perfect mix of East and West.

10 QUESTIONS

I found these questions circulating on various blogs.......interesting to ponder.

1. What simple pleasure would you miss most if it was no longer a part of your life?

     I miss having a companion. I never realized how much 

     widowhood would impact my core. 

2. What was one of your prized possessions as a child or teenager?

     As a child my prized possession was "Twinkle" a turquoise 

      three wheeler bike, that  sparkled in the sun  

      and sped downhill  with at least two riders, 

      one steering and one standing up on back of the bike. 

      I can still feel the wind in my face.

3. Name a book you’ve read (or movie you’ve watched) multiple times.

    Love Actually.   A romantic Christmas movie.....perfect.

4. What is your current career/vocation? If you could try another one, what would it be?

     Draftsperson/Office Manager.       Artist extraordinaire!

5. If you could take a six-month sabbatical, where would you go and what would you want to do/learn/study?

     All of my life I have loved India, the color, tradition, 

      music, food, spirituality.

6. In your opinion, what is the quintessential comfort food?

     Dark chocolate.

7. What was a formative moment or turning point in your life?

     Discovering, I was accepted and forgiven........

      Just as I am.

8. Do you have any regrets that are particularly difficult to shake?

    I did the best I could, with the knowledge I had at any 

    particular time in my life.   

    Regrets some, but none to difficult to shake.  

     See question 7........

9. If you could be really talented at a skill of your choice, what would it be?

     Painting/Drawing/Photography........................

10. If you had to choose one word to describe what you hope your life is like in 10 years, what would it be?

     Grateful.

AGING PARENTS

This  You Tube video brought me to tears.......
Perhaps because I am closer to the aging parent stage than the child stage.
Perhaps because it reminds me of my mother whom I cared for impatiently at times.
Perhaps because it reminds me of families I know who at this moment are living and struggling with this season of life.
Perhaps because it is inevitable for all of us, if we live long enough.
But mostly because of the powerlessness that I try so hard not to acknowledge in my life. I cover it with a veil of control that is only an illusion. When I  know in my heart that powerlessness needs to be embraced rather than ignored, or cast aside.  And, from that embrace comes acceptance and peace. This in my heart I do know..................and that is the scariest thing of all, for me.  Needing someone, who might not be there.

TAI CHI # 4 & 5

I have been remiss about posting of late. However, I did attend two classes since my last post.  The funny thing is it is not getting any easier each week. I expected more progress. However my expectations have often side tracked me in the past, so I shall accept the journey.

My right foot, I have discovered, has a mind of its own. There I am holding the proper pose and lo and behold I realize my right heel is raised when it should be flatly planted on the ground. Now my focus is on my right heel, I lose track of the hand positions, my tree hugging arm should match my dominant leg.
Sheesh..... this reminds me of my  faltering beginning attempts to practice meditation.  Wait a minute.....eureka.... my right heel is raised ......an awareness.......lower the heel and  let the movements flow.  It's a simple as that.  Four weeks ago, I was not even aware my heel was raised at all. Now that is progress.

As usual, my expectations are not an accurate barometer for me. They are something to reach for, but falling short of them is not a catastrophe.  Gratefully, that is lesson that I learned a long time ago, after many years of soul searching. But, I have to keep reminding myself that it is a lesson learned.

I used to believe when I learned how to live in balance that I would not longer have to seek it. Then a wise sage explained to me that one does not automatically awake in balance each day simply because one has become aware of it.  It's not that easy. Simple never is, after all.  She explained; one re-centers daily to align oneself with the sense of balance that one has discovered.  Amazing.....and it makes this life odyssey so interesting.